The Madras high court on October 3 ordered an inquiry by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the September 27 stampede in Karur at the rally of star-politician Vijay, in which 41 persons were killed and many others injured. It said that Vijay and functionaries of his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party didn’t show “even a remote sense of … responsibility for organising such an event”.
The high court also ordered registration of a hit-and-run case against Vijay because his campaign vehicle met with two accidents while he was leaving. The vehicle reportedly did not stop even after dashing against the bikes of his accompanying cadres. “Both, the driver and the leader (Vijay), saw the accident but left the place without stopping… This court highly condemns the attitude of the party (TVK)… There was not even a remote sense of feeling expressed by the party taking responsibility for organising such an event. This only shows the mental state of the leader and the party,” Justice N. Senthilkumar said. He added, “The organisers, right from the leader, disappeared from the scene.” The judge criticised Vijay and his TVK members for first causing a stampede and then abandoning their cadres and followers.
The SIT will be headed by Asra Garg, IGP (North zone), and will consist of Vimala, SP, Namakkal, and Shyamaladevi, SP. The judge remarked, “In both cases (campaign vehicle hitting two bikes), police have not registered an FIR for hit-and-run. Court expresses its deep anguish and agony that even if no complaint is filed by the aggrieved, state has suo moto responsibility to register a case, bring the perpetrators of the crime on record, and make them face trial.”
“Neither the politician nor his followers were there at the scene of occurrence after the incident. The President, the PM, Union home minister, CM of Tamil Nadu, and leader of opposition condoled the incident, and almost all political parties were there to rescue people. This court could not understand how the political party that organised the rally abandoned the scene of occurrence immediately after the incident,” the judge said. He added, “The fateful occurrence resulted in the loss of 41 lives. Unfortunately, the organisers, right from the leader… vanished, leaving their own cadres, leaving their own followers, leaving their own fans in the lurch.” The judge added, “Such an irresponsible attitude of any politician or organisation cannot be taken lightly. The court owes its responsibility towards its citizens. It is unfortunate to record such leadership quality.”
The court passed this order on a plea moved by P.H. Dinesh, seeking to restrain TN home secretary and DGP from granting nod for road shows to TVK or other political parties until guidelines were framed for such events.
